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SCHNEIDER VS. BAXby Alex van Warmerdam

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SCHNEIDER VS. BAXWritten and Directed by Alex van WarmerdamThe Netherlands, Belgium / 2015 / 96 minutes / Dutch / Comedy, Thriller

Film Specs: Production Countries: The Netherlands, BelgiumYear: 2015Language: DutchGenre: Comedy, ThrillerSubtitle Language: English Format: DCPRunning Time: 96 minutesColor/Bw: ColorAspect Ratio: 2.39:1Frame Rate: 24fspSound Ratio: 5:1Originally Shot on: ARRIRAW

Credits: Written and Directed by Alex van WarmerdamProducer: Marc van Warmerdam Co-producers: Eurydice Gysel, Koen Mortier, Robert Kievit Line Producer: Berry van Zwieten Director of Photography: Tom Erisman N.S.C.Production Design: Geert Paredis Editor: Job ter Burg N.C.E. Music: Alex van Warmerdam Costume Design: Stine Gudmundsen-Holmgreen Makeup: Marike Willard-Hoogveld Sound Design: Peter WarnierVisual Effects Supervisors: Dennis Kleyn, Albert van Vuure Casting: Annet Malherbe in association with Kemna Casting

SCHNEIDER VS. BAX is a production of Graniet Film in coproduction with Czar Film, Vara and Mollywood

Schneider vs. Bax is supported by Netherlands Film Fund, COBO, Eurimages, Flemish Audiovisual Fund, Screen Flanders & Agentschap Ondernemen, Abraham Tuschinski Fund

Copyright Notice: ©2015 Graniet Film, Czar TV, VARA - All rights reserved.

Main Cast: Schneider Tom DewispelaereRamon Bax Alex van WarmerdamFrancisca Maria KraakmanGina Annet MalherbeMertens Gene BervoetsNadine Eva van de WijdevenBolek Pierre BokmaLucy Loes HaverkortGerard Henri Garcin

Logline/tagline: Schneider, a hit-man, is given a job: before the night has passed he must kill the writer Ramon Bax. It seems to be an easy task....

Short Synopsis: Schneider, a hit man, gets a call from Mertens on the morning of his birthday. He has a last-minute assignment for Schneider who refuses it, because it is his birthday and he has promised Lucy, his wife, to help her with the preparations for the dinner party. Mertens insists that it is an important matter. When they meet in Mertens' office, Schneider is told that the target is Ramon Bax, a writer. He lives alone in a secluded place. "It's an easy job. With a little luck you're back home before noon." Schneider accepts the assignment. What was promised to be a simple hit turns out to be more than expected.

Long Synopsis: Schneider, a hit man, gets a call from Mertens on the morning of his birthday. He has a last minute assignment for Schneider who refuses it, because it is his birthday and he has promised his wife, Lucy, to help her with the preparations for a dinner party. Mertens insists that it is an important matter. When they meet in Mertens’ office, Schneider is told that the target is Ramon Bax, a writer. Bax lives alone in a secluded place. “It’s an easy job. With a little luck you’re back home before noon.” Schneider accepts the assignment.

Bax, over sixty, is staying at his summer house on the edge of a lake surrounded by reeds. He is recovering from a night of drugs and alcohol. When he remembers that his daughter Francisca is coming to see him today, he heartlessly gets rid of his young mistress Nadine. Francisca arrives. She is depressed and unhappy, and her father does not know how to deal with her. He urges her to take drugs and compares her unfavourably with her sister. They quarrel and she starts to cry. Bax suppresses his discomfort with a joint, vodka and some haphazardly chosen pills.

What was promised to be a simple job turned out to be much more than Schneider ever expected.

INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR: At the Netherlands Film Festival your previous film Borgman won the Gouden Calf, the award for the best film, but you could not be present because you were working working on the scenario for Schneider vs. Bax in the north of Spain. Why the hurry?“I also write and direct theatre performances, so there has always been a stage play between two films for reasons of logistics. I wanted to break through that pattern. I wanted to make two films back-to-back so I could benefit from the continuity.”

In connection with Ober (2006) you said that the film was a reaction to your previous work and you said something similar about Borgman. Is Schneider vs. Bax an anti-Borgman film?“Anti is not the right word. When I start on a new film, the first thing I think is more or less: and now for something different. Borgman was mysterious, ambiguous, metaphysical. I’m not going to do that again. An old wish surfaced inside me: to make a film as light as a feather. A stylistic exercise. A study of light, space, water, and reeds. Two men with guns, a few women of course, very little dialogue.”

You have never made a film on the basis of somebody else’s scenario. Hasn’t it crossed your path or does it have something to do with being in control?“For me, making a film starts right at the beginning. And the beginning is no more than the decision to want to make a film, and at that point I look into a large, white empty space. The first images loom up, characters, situations. For a long time it gets no further than musing, doodling, and making notes. And then the writing begins. I put myself in the shoes of the characters; manoeuvre them in problematic situations, think of obstacles. At the same time I visualise the spaces in which the characters move and things like that. If I were to film somebody else’s script, I’d have to do without all that. In that case, what am I doing?”

The title of the film implies a duel and Schneider vs. Bax contains many elements of Westerns; did you set out to make a genre film?“I didn’t intend to make a genre film because that means you have to stick to the laws of the genre and that doesn’t have my interest. But the principle of a Western – a man on his own in a landscape with a gun; and then another man, also with a gun. I’ve always been intrigued by it. Because it is pure cinema; there’s not a word involved.”“I wanted to do something with a contract killer, a lake, lots of reeds. That already carries the germs of a Western. You could see reeds and water as a substitute for the prairie. And a contract killer is in fact a bounty hunter. But Schneider vs. Bax is also a game of mistakes, bad luck, and coincidence.”

Do you see many films by other people? Are there filmmakers that you admire, or who serve as models?“I’ve recently been going to the movies a lot again. Under the skin, Leviathan, I thought they were classic, merciless films. Films I take my hat off to. And then there are of course my old favourites: Hitchcock, Buñuel, Melville, Laurel and Hardy. But also many films I don’t even know the name of the director of. I’ve taken things, learnt things from all those well-known and unknown directors, consciously or subconsciously.”

For many of your previous films you have an entire houses built because the size of the rooms and the corridors determine the psychology of the space, or you have had a wood erected in the studio to make sure everything is exactly as you had in mind. The complete interior of Mertens’s office was built in the studio, but most of the shooting for Schneider vs. Bax took place in a nature reserve in the north of the Netherlands, which meant that you have to take account of all sorts of rules and regulations and with the nesting season of the marsh harrier. What did that mean to you? “Most of all it was exhausting. I’ve seen more or less all the reed lands in the Netherlands, and what made it so exhausting that every time we nearly got permission to film there and then at the last minute the permission was retracted. It all had to do with the nesting season and the great reed warbler, a threatened species. Every time we were on the point of getting permission, the great reed warbler turned up and the permission was withdrawn. That bird became my enemy. I visualised it as a large bird with an angry look, but it turned out to be only a stupid little bird.”

Why does the story have to take place in the reeds in fact? “I was more or less born in the reeds so I know reeds well. Reeds make a noise when you run through them. You are invisible in the reeds, but not quite. When you’re in a reed field, reed is chaotic, especially in the sun. Thousands of little shadows. You easily get lost in the reeds; you lose your bearings. Reeds are a visually attractive obstacle.”

The art-direction is even more striking than in many of your earlier films: almost everybody is wearing light-coloured clothes; both the interiors and exteriors include a lot of white and sandy colours. What gave you that idea?“In fact, since The last days of Emma Blank I have been interested in the sun, in summer. In Borgman, too, I wanted to have only sunlight. Violence and things dark in sunlight are more interesting than violence and things dark in the dark. But a warm, sunny summer is anything but normal in the Netherlands. So in both films I only partly succeeded. In Schneider vs. Bax I wanted to develop that idea once more. And not only by having as much sun as possible but an overpowering lightness. To start with there are no nights. The film takes place in one sunny day. And as far as the light was concerned I also wanted to have no difference between interiors and exteriors. In Hollywood, before they started filming in studios, they constructed rooms without ceiling and put them out in the open, and later on a revolving plateau so they could turn with the sun. The fact that light always comes from above I find wonderful. Schneider’s house has a normal roof and the light comes in through the windows as usual. As soon as we leave Schneider’s house things change. In Schneider’s lock-up a lot of light comes from above and similarly in Mertens’s office, but Bax’s wooden house has a completely glass roof so that even the light in the toilet comes from above. The summerhouse in the woods has no roof at all.”

For a long time now you’ve been working together with cameraman Tom Erisman. What is his specific input? Is he also involved with the direction for instance when you yourself are acting?“Not really, also because Annet [Malherbe] was always on the set to co-direct me when I had to be acting. But he certainly has a specific input. To start with I prepare the storyboard of the whole film with Tom. He asks basic question so that the whole scenario goes through a wringer and all superfluities are scrapped. For this film we discussed the light a lot. One day I found a photo in a magazine, a Polaroid picture of a father and son in a dell in the dunes, taken from a family album. The glaring summer light provided a certain glistening that I liked. I showed that photo to Tom, saying “Look, that’s what I want, but not nostalgic.” Tom then said: “What you like about it is the out-of-focusness of the photo”. And he hit the nail on the head there are, because digital film are dead in focus, to my displeasure. We softened that in the grading, in the postproduction. And the skies weren’t to be blue because that gives you that nostalgic postcard feeling.”

Your film-making is a kind of family business. From your third film onwards your brother Marc van Warmerdam has been the producer; your wife Annet Malherbe played the lead in Abel and has featured in your films ever since, and she is now responsible for the casting. Your children, too, and another brother have collaborated in your films. How did that come about?“It developed over the years. Marc and I also work together in the theatre and we have done so since we were young. Annet is a good actress and has turned out to be a good casting director. She also assists me in the choice of make-up and costume. Vincent has made the music for many of my films and that is only logical because he already made a lot of music for my theatre performances. And my sons, who are both musicians, have made ring tones with the group Zoutmus and a few songs that sound on the radio in the film. They also assisted on the set to earn some money.”

Stanley Kubrick was a notorious director but you too are quite outspoken. Apparently while you were shooting you said to Maria Kraakman, a renowned actress who plays your daughter in Schneider vs. Bax that she was 'like a rectangle'. Was that any use to her?“I’d forgotten about that. I’ve read it in an interview with her. I believe she had to come into the room. She held her arms stiffly alongside her body so that I saw her as a rectangle. I said: ‘There’s a rectangle coming into the room’. She didn’t know what I meant, so I showed her on the video-assist. Then she understood perfectly well and after that the rectangle was no longer there.”

In the course of his laborious activities the contract killer Schneider has telephone conversations with his wife who is at home preparing for a dinner party. Do you know if she is aware of his profession? Does the actress Loes Haverkort know, and does it matter? Do you in fact know yourself the reason behind the planned killing?“Let me put it this way: I told Loes not to create the suggestion that she knows what her husband’s job is, but I can’t forbid the viewer anything. I myself am not aware of the reason for the contract killing.”

But is there no deeper meaning? Is there nothing to interpret, nothing for the viewer to identify with? Is Schneider vs. Bax not also about good and evil? “Of course Schneider vs. Bax is also about good and evil, but almost in a way that denies. I want to show it drily, as un-dramatically as possible, without sentiment, without moral judgement. That is exactly what raises questions, I think. The only character with a bit of a moral consciousness is Gina, probably a prostitute. The whore with a heart of gold, an incredible cliché. I couldn’t avoid it but fortunately it isn’t too obvious. Whether there is something to interpret for the viewer? That’s an impossible question for me; I am not the viewer I am the maker.”

According to the Hollywood doctrine you have to create a whole biography for every character, but when you are writing the characters you know nothing or hardly anything about them. Isn’t that difficult for your actors? How do you give them something to go by? “I don’t go in for those biographies but I know more about the characters than you think. The question is: does the actor have to know all that? I don’t think so. The actor is already the character because he was cast for that role. Kirk Douglas is Spartacus, or you could also say Spartacus is Kirk Douglas. I give actors something to go by because together with them I go through the mise en scène, we decide on the tempo and perhaps scrap the odd line or two.”

'Muesli makes me depressed, muesli is for goats', your character says. Is that autobiographical?“That could very well be autobiographical.”

Schneider vs. Bax was edited by Job ter Burg; do you sit next to him all the time or do you just see the edited versions? What kind of things do you try out in the editing?“I am always there in principle. This is our third film together. We have developed a kind of system by now; together we choose the best takes of particular scene, and discuss the setup. Then I go to the place where I work in the building next to his. He phones me when he’s got the first version. I comment on it and we work on it together. At that point it is merely a case of putting the scenes together. What follows is the real job: to turn all those scenes into a film, because if you put everything together on the basis of the scenario it is not a coherent film in any sense. We move scenes about and discard a great deal. The content as such remains intact, but the structure becomes completely different. When we have the feeling that there is some kind of coherence we show the film to three people at the most: my brother and producer Marc, and two friends whose opinion I value highly. They are allowed to say anything they like - and they do. With the comments we go back to the editing suite and use what we can. By then we will have made some progress. Then it takes roughly three, four weeks before big steps have been taken and there is a second viewing. The two friends who were there at the first viewing will not be invited again because their opinion is coloured by what they’ve seen before, and also they will easily approve of the changes because they see their own comments in it. New friends therefore – they could also be acquaintances; it could be three or four people. We repeat that process let’s say eight times in the course of a good four months.”

What was the greatest challenge when making Schneider vs. Bax?“That there is no night in it. The film begins in the morning light and ends in the late afternoon. That is a very forceful restriction. In the first place for the camera department. It is in fact impossible to create the continuity of a single sunny day if you’re shooting for forty-five days, sometimes with sun, sometimes without sun, sometimes with rain. That also led to problems in the editing. In a normal film, with the necessary nights, it is much easier to play around with the structure and the continuity. After a night scene you can start all over again in a manner of speaking. In this film that was much more difficult.

Are you already working on your next film? And do we see you’re back in the theatre one day?“At the moment I am writing a theatre performance for a collaboration project of my own group Mexicaanse Hond, the Mexican Hound, and the Antwerp group Olympique Dramatique. The rehearsals are scheduled to start in January 2016. Every now and then I jot down an idea for my new film.

Jan Pieter Ekker, July 2015

Cast Biography:

Tom Dewispelaere as Schneider

Tom Dewispelaere graduated from the Herman Teirlinck Studio in 1998. Together with Ben Segers, Stijn Van Opstal and Geert Van Rampelberg he forms the actors’ collective ‘Olympique Dramatique’. He is a resident actor with Toneelhuis.

Dewispelaere regularly appears in television series and films such as DE PARELVISSERS (2006), VAN VLEES EN BLOED (2009), GROENTEN UIT BALEN (2011) and CORDON (2014). SCHNEIDER vs. BAX is the second film by Alex van Warmerdam in which Dewispelaere plays a major role; the first was BORGMAN (2013).

Alex van Warmerdam as Bax

Multi-talented Alex van Warmerdam (also writer, actor, composer, painter and designer) was born in the Dutch city of Haarlem in 1952. He studied graphic design and painting at Amsterdam’s Gerrit Rietveld Academy before he co-founded the Music Theatre company Hauser Orkater (1972) and The Mexican Hound Theatre Company (1980) with his brother Marc. Between 1978 and 1984 he shot a short film and two TV films before making his feature debut ABEL(1986), which won the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1992 he made the feature THE NORTHERNERS, which picked up three Felixes (for best film, music and art direction). THE DRESS (1996), which sold to more than 25 territories, won the FIPRESCI Award at Venice and the Dutch Film Critics’ Award at the Netherlands Film Festival.

Success continued with LITTLE TONY (1998) which was selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes and won for Annet Malherbe the Prize for “Outstanding Screen Performance” at the 1999 Filmfest Ludwigsberg/ Stuttgart. GRIMM (2003) was selected for San Sebastian and Riga, while WAITER (2006) won both public and critical acclaim at international festivals including Toronto. THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK (2009) won Best European Film at Venice, the Best Screenplay Award at the Netherlands Film Festival and Best Film at the International Film Festival Albania.

His most recent thriller, BORGMAN (2013), was nominated for Palme d’Or at Cannes. It also screened in the Vanguard section at Toronto, and was the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards. BORGMAN won many awards including the City of Athens Award (Best Director) at Athens; Fedeora Awards at Haifa; ICS Cannes Award at the Cinephile Society Awards; Golden Calf for Best Film, Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the Netherlands Film Festival, Best Film at the Palic Film Awards, Best Picture at Sitges and Best European Film at Strasbourg.

Director’s Selected Filmography: BORGMAN (2013)THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK (2009)WAITER (2006)GRIMM (2003)LITTLE TONY (1998)THE DRESS (1996)THE NORTHENERS (1992)ABEL (1986)

Maria Kraakman as Francisca

Maria Kraakman graduated from the Arnhem Toneelschool in 1998 and was for a long time a resident actress with the theatre group Oostpool. In 2005 she won a Golden Calf for her restrained role in the film GUERNSEY by Nanouk Leopold. She had appeared earlier in Leopold’s LES FLOTTANTES (2001) and in short television films and plays such as ELINE VERE, for which she was nominated as Best Stage Actress. In 2010 she co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film HUNTING AND SONS, in which she also played the female leading role, and she was nominated for the Golden Calf for Best Actress. Hunting and Sons was on VOD on Vyer films in the USA. On stage she played leading roles such as Martha in Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Orlando by Virginia Woolf, for which she was awarded the Theo d’Or 2010 for Best Stage Actress in a leading role. At present, she is playing the role of Harper Pitt in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, staged by theatre group Oostpool.From 2015 she will be resident actress with Toneelgroep Amsterdam.

Gene Bervoets as Mertens

Gene Bervoets studied at the Studio Herman Teirlinck where he graduated in 1980. Bervoets has appeared in about fifty films; in 2009 he was nominated for a Gouden Calf for best actor for his role in DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK. Recently Bervoets played in MICHIEL DE RUYTER, LOFT and DUSKA. SCHNEIDER vs. BAX is the third film Gene Bervoets made with Alex van Warmerdam after BORGMAN en DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK. Apart from his work in film he also appears in several TV series in Flanders and in the Netherlands, for example in FLIKKEN MAASTRICHT, AMATEURS and VERMIST.

Loes Haverkort as Lucy

Loes Haverkort played the female lead, Charlotte, in the musical SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE which received a number of Musical Awards. She was also Princess Máxima in the television series BERNHARD, SCHAVUIT VAN ORANJE. Haverkort trained as an actress at the Toneelacademie Maastricht. On stage she established her fame with plays such as RICHARD III and VAL VAN DE GODEN with HOLLANDIA and DE KOOPMAN VAN VENETIË with De Theatercompagnie. She played a leading part in the performance EMMI@LEO. She joined the Nationale Toneel in KONINGINNENACHT. Alongside all this Haverkort ran her own theatre company for a while. Its performances included KANTOOR, UPTIJD and CASINO. Loes Haverkort appeared on the silver screen in feature films such as DIK TROM (awarded a Platina Film), MIJN OPA DE BANKROVER (awarded a Gouden Film) and HET ECHTE LEVEN. She played a leading role in the thriller RENDEZ-VOUS by Antoinette Beumer, based on the novel of the same name by Esther Verhoef. On television she appeared in the series DE TROON, VAN SPEIJK, JULIA’S TANGO, RECHERCHEUR RIA and the Telefilms COACH and LIEVE CÉLINE. She also played a leading role in the comedy LIEVE LIZA with director Jean van de Velde.

Annet Malherbe as Gina

Annet Malherbe graduated from the Amsterdam Toneelschool in 1982. She has an outstanding career on stage as well as in many television and film productions. Annet Malherbe appeared in ABEL (1986), DE NOORDERLINGEN (1992), DE JURK (1996), ABELTJE (1998), GOOISCHE VROUWEN (2005-2007), DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK (2009) and BORGMAN (2013) to name a few. For her roles in ABEL (1986), MUS (1993), KLEINE TEUN (1998) and ABELTJE (1998) for which she received multiple award nominations.

Eva van de Wijdeven as Nadine

Eva van de Wijdeven started acting aged thirteen with the youth group of the Paardenkathedraal. Her breakthrough came in 2002 when she played Desie in the TV series DUNYA EN DESIE. In 2005 the series was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category best foreign-language youth series.

In the theatre she regularly works with director Paula Bangels, as well as with Alex van Warmerdam. She appeared in his feature films DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK and BORGMAN and in his stage play, BIJ HET KANAAL NAAR LINKS. She also appears in Van Warmerdam’s latest film SCHNEIDER vs. BAX. Beside her work for the big screen and the theatre Eva also appears in several TV series; we mention CELBLOK H and PENOZA. She plays the leading part in the successful TV series A’DAM E.V.A. The third season of this series is due to be aired in 2016.

Pierre Bokma as Bolek

After graduating from the Maastricht Toneelschool Pierre Bokma has worked non-stop for the theatre, film and TV in the Netherlands and abroad. He played leading parts in highly regarded theatre productions such as KING LEAR, OTHELLO (he was awarded a Gouden Hart for his rendering of Iago), RICHARD III for which he received a Louis d’Or (best actor), IVANOV, MACBETH, OEDIPUS, OOM WANJA, ROMEO EN JULIA, ROUW SIERT ELECTRA (for which Bokma received the ‘Arlecchino’), MIDZOMERNACHTSDROOM. Recently he was awarded his second Louis d’Or for his role in the play DE VERLEIDERS. Bokma received the most prestigious awards, including the Paul Steenbergen medal, the Albert van Dalsum ring, three Gouden Kalveren and a Beeld en Geluid Award.

Bokma appeared in TV series such as ’T SCHAEP, BLOEDVERWANTEN and DE PROOI (TV Beeld Best Leading Role) and in the international TV series TATORT (Germany), DALZIEL & PASCOE (UK) and in well-known films such as DE AANSLAG by Fons Rademakers (awarded a Golden Globe and an Oscar), Peter Greenaway’s PROSPERO’S BOOKS, and INTERVIEW directed by Theo van Gogh of which the American remake directed by Steve Buscemi came out in 2007. For his role in the TV film DE UITVERKORENE Bokma won an International Emmy Award in 2007. At present Pierre Bokma is in several productions in the Netherlands, and with the Münchner Kammerspiele in Germany.

Henri Garcin as Gerard

Henri Garcin is a Belgian actor who has, since 1949, lived and worked in France where, from 1956 onwards, he has appeared in over a hundred feature films, television series and telefilms.

Garcin has appeared in the Netherlands in several films including ABEL and DE JURK by director Alex van Warmerdam, and more recently in HET MEISJE EN DE DOOD by Jos Stelling and BOVEN IS HET STIL by Nanouk Leopold.

Crew:

Tom Erisman – Director of PhotographyTom Erisman has been Director of Photography since 1988 for feature films, commercials and TV series. SCHNEIDER VS. BAX is his fifth collaboration with director Alex van Warmerdam. They also worked together on GRIMM, OBER, DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK and BORGMAN. He also made many films with Theo van Gogh, including LOOS, 06, BLIND DATE and BABY BLUE; with Eddy Terstall he worked on TRANSIT and WALHALLA.

Job ter Burg - EditorJob ter Burg has worked as an editor for prominent Dutch directors for the last twenty years. In 2011 he won a Gouden Calf for Best Editing for TIRZA (Rudolf van den Berg). He edited all of Martin Koolhoven’s films, of which we mention OORLOGSWINTER, SUZY Q and HET SCHNITZELPARADIJS – for the latter Ter Burg was nominated for a Gouden Calf, as he was for VAN GOD LOS (Pieter Kuijpers). Since ZWARTBOEK he has been Paul Verhoeven’s regular editor. For Alex van Warmerdam he edited BORGMAN and DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK. He is co-founder and Chairman of the Dutch association of cinema editors NCE).

Production Company - Graniet FilmThe independent film production company Graniet Film was founded in 1993 by producer Marc van Warmerdam and film maker Alex van Warmerdam. Productions: DE JURK (1996), KLEINE TEUN (1998), GRIMM (2003), OBER (2006), DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK (2009), BORGMAN (2013), SCHNEIDER vs. BAX (2015)

Marc van Warmerdam - ProducerMarc van Warmerdam is a Dutch film and theatre producer, director of the music theatre company Orkater (more than 120 productions) and of the film production company Graniet Film. Orkater coproduced the first two films of his brother Alex van Warmerdam, Abel and De Noorderlingen.With Graniet Film he produced the other films of Alex van Warmerdam: DE JURK, KLEINE TEUN, GRIMM, OBER, DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK, BORGMAN and SCHNEIDER vs. BAX. In 1999 he was the initiator of Het Ketelhuis, a cinema for Dutch films in Amsterdam. As a producer he was awarded a Gouden Calf in 2013 for the Best Dutch Film with the film by writer/director Alex van Warmerdam produced by Graniet Film.

Director’s Selected Filmography and Awards:

2013 BorgmanCannes Competition 2013Best Director, City of Athens Award – Athens IFFFedeora Award – Aaifa IFFICS Cannes Award – International Cinephile Society AwardsBest Actress – Netherlands FFBest Screenplay of a Feature Film – Netherlands FFBest Film – Netherlands FFBest Film, Golden Tower – Palic FFBest Motion Picture – Sitges – Catalonian IFFBest European Film – Strasbourg IFFGrand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Gold – Sweden Fantastic FF

The Netherlands’ Nominated Film for Best Foreign Language Film OscarNomination Grand Jury Prize – Athens IFFNomination Golden Athena Best Picture – Athens IFFNomination Best Film – Austin IFFNomination Golden Hugo – Chicago IFFNomination Art Cinema Award – Hamburg IFFNomination Best film – Netherlands FFNomination Film Poster Award – Netherlands FFNomination Best Supporting Actress – Netherlands FFNomination Best Director – Netherlands Film FestivalNomination Fipresci Prize Best Foreign Language Film – Palm Springs IFFNomination Best Film and Best Dutch Actress – Rembrandt AwardsNomination Best Film – Sarajevo FFNomination Best Film – Sydney FFNomination Best Film – Tallinn Black Nights FFNomination Most Popular Film – Vancouver IFF

2010 De laatste dagen van Emma Blank [The Last Days of Emma Blank] (feature film - scriptwriter, director, actor, music)

Golden Calf – Best scenarioBest film – in the category Europe Cinema Label, Venice Days, Venice film festival Best film – international film festival Albania 2010Nomination Golden Calf – best male supporting roleNomination Golden Calf – best actor (Gene Bervoets)Nomination Golden Calf – production designNomination Poster PrizeStimulus Prize NFF

2006 Ober [Waiter] (feature film - scriptwriter, director, title role)

Golden Calf - Best scenarioGolden Calf – Production DesignStimulus Prize NFF

2003 Grimm (feature film - scriptwriter, director, music)

Official selection International Film Festival San Sebastian, SpainOfficial selection International Film Festival Riga, LatviaSkrien Poster Prize 2004 for his hand-painted Grimm poster.

1998 Kleine Teun [Little Tony] (feature film - scriptwriter, director, music)

Official selection "Certain Regard" - Cannes Film Festival, FranceNomination for the European Film Award 1998 best European scriptwriterNomination for the European Film Award 1998 best European actress: Annet Malherbe‘outstanding screen performance’ 1999 Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart for Annet Malherbe

1996 De Jurk [The Dress] (feature film - scriptwriter, director, leading role)

Film Critics’ Award - Venice Film FestivalPrize of the Dutch Film Critics - Netherlands Film FestivalPrize for the Best Feature Film - Potsdam film festival, GermanyE.J. Jordaan Prize - Amsterdam Fund for the Arts

1992 De Noorderlingen [The Northerners] (feature film - scriptwriter, director, leading role)

Golden Calf - Best DirectionGolden Calf - Best Male Leading RoleEuropean Film Awards Young European Film, Music and Art DirectionDutch entry for the Oscar AwardSpecial Jury Prize - Veviers Film Festival, FranceBronze Horse - Scenario - Stockholm Film Festival, SwedenGolden Rose - Bergamo Film Festival, Italy

1986 Abel (feature film - scriptwriter, director, leading role)

Golden Calf - Best FilmGolden Calf - Best DirectionFilm Critics’ Award - Venice Film Festival

1984 De Stedeling [The Townee] (short film - scriptwriter, director, title role)

1982 Graniet [Granite] (television) co-scriptwriter, actor, design1979 Striptease (short film) co-scriptwriter, actor1982 Graniet [Granite] (television) co-scriptwriter, actor, design1980 Zie de Mannen Vallen [Watch the men fall] (tv) co-scriptwriter, actor1978 Entree Brussels (short film) co-scriptwriter, actor

THEATRE - DE MEXICAANSE HOND (The Mexican Hound) 1980 – 2011Broers [Brothers], Graniet [Granite], De Wet van Luisman [Luisman’s Law], Onnozele Kinderen [The Innocents], De Leugenbroeders [The Brothers of the Lie], Het Noorderkwartier [The Northern Quarter], Kaatje is verdronken [Katie has been drowned], Kleine Teun [Little Tony], Adel Blank, Welkom in het Bos [Welcome to the Woods], De Verschrikkelijke Moeder [The Horrible Mother], Wees ons genadig [Have Mercy on Us], Bij het kanaal naar links [Turn Left at the Canal] (coproduction De Mexicaanse Hond/ Olympique Dramatique)

THEATRE - HAUSER ORKATER 1974 - 1979 Op Avontuur [In search of Adventure], Famous Artists, Het Vermoeden [Suspicion], Entree Brussels, Zie de Mannen Vallen [Watch the men fall] (Hauser Orkater)

PUBLICATIONS - De hand van een Vreemde [The Hand of a Stranger] – novel, Verzameld Theaterwerk 1982-1996 [Collected Plays 1982-1996], Van alle kanten komen ze [They’re coming from all sides] – volume of poetry, Meisje met de koffers [Girl with the suitcases] - gouaches

VARIOUS PRIZES AND AWARDS - ZIE DE MANNEN VALLEN [Watch the Men Fall] (1979) French Film Critics’ Prize for best Foreign Performance, GRANIET [Granite] (1982) CJP Prize , HET NOORDERKWARTIER [The Northern Quarter] (1990), Dutch/Flemish Playwrights’ Prize Albert van Dalsum Prize, Prins Bernhard Theatre Prizes (1995) for his oeuvre as theatre and film maker, Bronze Sealion (1998) - Province Zeeland award for Marc and Alex van Warmerdam for their contribution to Dutch cinema , Top 100 - Film of the Century election organised by the Netherlands Film Festival 1999 No 4: Abel - No 13: De Noorderlingen [The Northerners] - No 31: Kleine Teun [Little Tony] - No 33: De Jurk [The Dress].Nomination Amsterdam Prize (2010), Johannes Vermeer Prize (2010) national prize for his whole oeuvre consisting of films, theatre plays, literary works and a large number of visual arts works in widely varying techniques.

About the Production Company: The independent film production company Graniet Film was founded in 1993 by producer Marc van Warmerdam and film maker Alex van Warmerdam. Productions: DE JURK (1996), KLEINE TEUN (1998), GRIMM (2003), OBER (2006), DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK (2009), BORGMAN (2013), SCHNEIDER vs. BAX (2015)

Production Company Details and Contacts: Graniet FilmArchangelkade 151013BE AmsterdamThe Netherlands

Email: info@granietfilm.nlTel: +3120 6060630Fax: +3120 6060616

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